Associated Press
Monaco took its 3-2 first-leg advantage and stormed into the Champions League semifinals with a 3-1 home second-leg win over Borussia Dortmund.
Kylian Mbappe scored the opener very early on, and Falcao also struck before the 20 minute mark to send Monaco well through.
Just three minutes into the match, Benjamin Mendy burst forwards cutting inside from the left flank, and he rifled a shot on goal. It was straight at Roman Burki, but powerful enough that the German could only parry the shot. The rebound fell straight to two streaking Monaco attackers, and it was Mbappe who struck a shot off Burkis hands and into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
The goal makes Mbappe the first player in Champions League history to score in his first four knockout game appearances.
Then, in the 17th minute, Falcao headed in from a wonderfulThomas Lemar delivery, and Monaco was well and truly through.
With Dortmund down big, manager Thomas Tuchel brought on Ousmane Dembele in the 27th minute. Tuchel had come under fire for not starting either Dembele or Christian Pulisic. Nuri Sahin hit the post with a brilliant free-kick in the 14th minute, the best chance Dortmund had in the first half, and they would find a response soon after the halftime break.
Dembele was the creator as Dortmund hit back, finding a tiny window of opportunity on a pull-back to Marco Reus in the 51st minute as the German club made it 2-1. They still needed two more goals, however, to force extra time, and the mountain was too much to climb. Tuchel brought on Pulisic with 18 minutes to go, but he was powerless to change the tide. With 10 minutes to go, Valere Germain scored Monacos third to put the game to bed, and sending the aggregate score to 6-3. The goal means Monaco become the first team in Champions League history to score at least three goals in four straight knockout games.
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Like the Champions League today, the Europa League will be left with just four teams when the quarterfinalsconclude tomorrow with the second leg.
Manchester United is looking for Champions League qualification via the Premier League top four and still have a solid shot at doing so, but they can also lock that up by winning the Europa League. The Red Devils take a 1-1 aggregate back home against Belgian side Anderlecht, and you can bet Jose Mourinho will give this match everything hes got.
Defensively.
Mourinho, known already as a defend and counter proponent, will likely lean heavily on his defense as they look to advance to the semifinals. He shut down likely Premier League champions Chelsea last time out, doing so by controversially selecting to leave star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the bench along with Henrkih Mkhitaryan. The gamble worked out, and with Marcus Rashford up front, the Red Devils scored a 2-0 win with a different style going forward than they had previously shown with Ibra.
Will Mourinho revert to their previous tactics with Zlatan up front, or will he ride the hot hand against a Belgian side that has already seen off Zenit St. Petersburg and APOEL in these Europa League knockout stages?
Elsewhere, Lyon travels to Turkey to take on Besiktas in a tightly contested match. The French side took the opening leg 2-1 in stunning fashion, coming back from a 1-0 deficit with goals in the 83rd and 84th minute. Still, the match is up for grabs thanks to the away goal by Besiktas, and Lyon will do well to keep in a mentally stable state after the week they had. The French club saw their supporters forced out onto the field in the first leg against Besiktas after Turkish fans rained pyrotechnics down on them from the tier above, and then had their league match against Bastia over the weekend abandoned after players were attacked by opposing fans on the pitch. Now with an away trip to rowdy Turkey, it will be tough to keep in the right frame of mind.
Dutch giants Ajax have a visit to Schalke holding a 2-0 lead after keeping a clean sheet at home and watching Davy Klassen score twice. Schalke has been all over the map this season, so its a bit tough to predict who well seen from them at home on Thursday. Their last two Bundesliga matches alone have seen Schalkewin 4-1 over Wolfsburg followed by a 2-1 defeat to last-placed Darmstadt. Which Schalke side will show up with the odds stacked against them?
Finally, pesky Celta Vigo hits the road to visit Belgian club KAA Genk after a wild 3-2 first leg in Spain. Celta Vigo has been sparkling to watch at times this year, but their defensive abilities have let them down on more than one occasion (theyve conceded 51 La Liga goals this season, more than all but five Spanish teams), and if that happens again here, Genk can nick a win as they hold those two away goals.
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Harry Redknapp has signed on in an attempt to save Championship side Birmingham City overthe final three matches of the season.
The 70-year-old walks into a unique situation. The club was just outsidea playoff position when they shockingly fired Gary Rowett in mid-December. Gianfranco Zola took over, and the club entered a full-on nosedive, falling into a relegation battle after 13 losses compared to just two wins since.
Redknapp revealed he has a special clause in his contract: if Birmingham City is relegated this season, he wont be paid.
I have got a bonus. Its not a massive one, but I said if I dont keep you up, I dont want paying, he said.
Redknapp also revealed he had a similar clausein his contract with Derby County when he worked as a consultant at the end of last season, but instead of relegation it concerned promotion. Derby County was not promoted, after losing in the playoffsemifinal to Hull City despite nearly completing a three-goal comeback in the second leg.
Birmingham currently sits in 20th place, three points off the drop.Ive been in these sort of situations before, Redknapp said. Theyre always difficult, but Im ready for it.
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Borussia Dortmund might have good reason to blame their Champions League exit on the bomb attack that struck their team bus prior to the first leg against AS Monaco, but given recent reports, they might wish to consider themselves lucky.
According to German police who reconstructed the incident, its possible that things could have gone very differently.
If the explosions had detonated one second earlier, the entire bus would have been hit with a massive shock, an official from the German Federal Criminal Investigation Office told German publication Bild on Sunday.There would surely have been many serious injuries and possibly some deaths.
Thankfully, the only casualty was the broken wrist suffered by defender Marc Bartra, who is out four weeks after having surgery to repair the injury.
The bombs were found to be full of nails, with one imbedded in one of the buss seat headrests. They were reportedly built to a professional level, with materials and layouthintingtowards a knowledge of German military construction and schematics.
Letters have been sent claiming to be from Islamic extremistgroups that claim responsibility for the attack, but the German police have openly questioned the authenticity of those letters. The investigations have so far failed to publicly identify a lead on who may have been responsible for the bombing.
Before their second leg match in France, Monaco presented Dortmund with a plaque in a show of solidarity. The plaque depicted numerous photos of fans from both sides celebrating together, as Monaco showed its appreciation for the hospitality Dortmund fans showed them on the night of the attacks.
Social media was used to help Monaco fans stranded in Germany by the postponement of the first leg, and many Dortmund fans gave their rivals a place to stay for the night.
Associated Press
Barcelona looked for a second straight miracle comeback in the 2016/17 Champions League, but it was not to be as the stout Juventus defense held up under heavy fire for a 0-0 draw, seeing the Italians move into the semifinals with a 3-0 aggregate advantage.
The Spanish giants held much of the possession throughout the match, with Juventus happy to absorb the pressure. Georgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci lived up to their reputation as one of the worlds best central defensive partnerships, whileAlex Sandro and former Barcelona full-back Dani Alves did the work on the flanks.
Lionel Messi had the best early chance with a wide open shot near the penalty area on 20 minutes, but couldnt direct it goalwards, firing just wide right, leaving Luis Enrique baffled at the missed opportunity. There was a scary moment just before halftime when Messi went up for an aerial challenge and was undercut by Miralem Pjanic, landing square on his cheek. Messi recovered from his fall as his cheek began to bleed, and he returned for the second half with a bandage.
Juventus had opportunities as they built themselves into the game, with Juan Cuadrado proving the most dangerous. On the other end, Juventus defenders continued to usher the Barcelona attackers into wide areas of the box, forcing them to shoot from tight angles.
Sami Khedira was booked for hauling down Luis Suarez past the hour mark, meaning he is suspended for the semifinal first leg. As the final whistle blew, it marked an enormous 530 minutes since Juventus last conceded a goal in Champions League play, a 9th minute goal by Sevilla back in November.
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